Return of the Mount Hua Sect
Chapter 867: This Is The Land Of Mount Hua. (2)

“Ugh. We don’t even have time to rest.”

Hong Dae-Kwang let out a deep exhale.

He thought life would be a little easier with Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon, who caused trouble everywhere, being sealed behind the Closed Gate, but that was a huge misunderstanding.

As the huge storm raging in the center vanished, small gusts of wind kept coming around. Each one was not a great threat, but it seemed like even ten people wouldn’t be enough to handle them.

Hong Dae-Kwang glanced around.

‘No one?’

Of course, there was no one else there now. The place was falling apart, but after all, this was his branch.

Nevertheless, he kept looking to the left and right as if something bothered him. He took out a bottle from under the desk, which looked like it would collapse.

Puk.

He uncorked the bottle and sniffed it.

“Ugh… I am dying.”

Because he was so busy, he didn’t even have time to leisurely have a drink.

‘When was the last time I even smelled alcohol?’

It must have been at least a month now. Since all the beggars below him were wide-eyed, he could tell they were taking time to drink. But they couldn’t openly say they wanted a drink.

So even at times like this…

Just as Hong Dae-Kwang was drooling and about to sip from the bottle.

Kwang!

“ACKKK!”

Startled by the sound of the door opening, Hong Dae-Kwang threw the alcohol over his head.

“Branch leader!”

The beggar who rushed in without much attention gaped at the alcohol flowing down Hong Dae-Kwang’s head.

“NO, what…”

“…T-that…”

The beggar, who had been staring at Hong Dae-Kwang’s appearance with blurred eyes, flinched and quickly approached him.

“It isn’t important now.”

“Are you angry?”

Hong Dae-Kwang, who thought they would be angry at him for fooling around during work, was shocked.

“We have secret information from the sect!”

“What? From the main sect?”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s petty concerns were blown away in an instant.

A secret message was an emergency call from the main sect, delivered by a hawk. In recent years, despite numerous incidents, there hadn’t been a case where the main sect needed to send secret information.

“Now? Did it arrive now?!”

“Yes, branch leader! Just now!”

Sensing that something significant had happened, Hong Dae-Kwang leaped off the desk and snatched the red letter from the beggar’s hand.

He quickly broke the seal and read it.

“…this… this is?”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s eyes widened in shock, and his mouth stuttered.

“Iron Ghost? The Ghost of Mount He? Nine Swordsmen? Red Killing Clan? Nine… Nine Spirit Clan? Wait? Soul Breaking Killer? T-this damned! Him too?”

And that wasn’t all.

“S-s-s… Seven Killers of Jiangxi?!”

All the blood drained from Hong Dae-Kwang’s face.

Each name was associated with powerful and terrifying figures. But all these people gathered in one place and moving together?

“Why? Just where?”

The direction of their movement wasn’t in the letter.

Just as Hong Dae-Kwang was lost in thought and about to shout, another beggar rushed in.

“B-branch leader! Another emergency letter!”

“Bring it here, right now!”

Hong Dae-Kwang snatched the newly arrived letter and opened it.

“Ugh…”

The moment he saw the concise words inside, he forgot to breathe.

-To Shaanxi.

“…S-Shaanxi?”

“T-they are coming to Shaanxi?”

“Why?”

The beggars’ faces also began to turn pale.

“T… this is insane…”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s fingers, holding the red letter, trembled.

He had heard each and every name. It was impossible for anyone handling information not to know they had moved north to escape Jang Ilso.

But the moment he saw all the names on one paper, Hong Dae-Kwang felt fear rise in his bones, realizing how careless he had been until then.

If they were scattered around, they wouldn’t be worth worrying over. No matter how strong each one was individually, it would be difficult for them to make much difference.

But if they all came together in one place?

‘They could easily take down any single sect.’

Considering the violent nature of the Evil Sects, the damage they could do would be greater.

“W-why are these fucking morons stepping into Shaanxi to make trouble?”

Hong Dae-Kwang shouted as if he was jumping up from his place in anger.

Their intentions weren’t clear yet, but given the situation, even a 3-year-old could figure out their purpose.

“Reinforcement? What happened to the reinforcement? Request reinforcement from the main sect right now!”

“B-branch leader! The main sect has…”

“What the fuck is it! Does this seem like a normal situation? Shouldn’t we put aside everything and come here to help! Request the reinforcement right now! Right now!”

“Yes!”

When Hong Dae-Kwang shouted, a beggar who had been lost in thought ran out.

Even at that moment, Hong Dae-Kwang’s head spun.

‘Where? Where are they aiming? It cannot be the entirety of Shaanxi?’

Hong Dae-Kwang’s blunt fingers moved across the desk, not knowing where to point.

“What the hell can it be…”

The beggar who had run out then came back in with a paler face.

“B-branch leader! More information came.”

“What?”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s eyes trembled. He had never heard of emergency letters coming up in this count over his time.

“B-bring it!”

Hong Dae-Kwang hurriedly opened the letter he received.

“…”

This time, it wasn’t like a letter.

A map.

A clear red line was drawn on the small map that briefly depicted the appearance of Central Plains.

The ominous line, which started from Luoyang, spread to Shanxi. As he followed it, the line suddenly broke in the middle, but Hong Dae-Kwang’s gaze moved to the line moving ahead and then left.

The moment he finally saw the name of the city, he groaned helplessly.

“… Xi’an.”

Cold sweat ran down his forehead.

Perhaps this news was natural.

What they were after was so obvious. Would a group of so many morons come to Shaanxi for any other reason? Whether their goal was wealth or chaos, their target would be Xi’an, the largest city in Shaanxi.

“N-No.”

If both Southern Edge and Mount Hua were moving openly, those Evil Sects people would never dare to do this. Xi’an was a city to the south and east of Southern Edge and Mount Hua.

But both of those sects were now under Closed Gates. In other words, the current Shaanxi was a no man’s land without a sect looking after it.

What if they invaded Xi’an and committed a wrong during this time?

“Why! Why these crazy bastards! Just why!”

Hong Dae-Kwang couldn’t hold back his curses.

“B-branch leader! What do we do?”

“…”

Hong Dae-Kwang clenched his fists, stared into the air, gritted his teeth, and said.

“Request support from the main sect! And request support from Shaolin right now! Right now!”

“Without going through the main sect’s permission?”

“There is no time for that! Send a message to Shaolin right away requesting support from the main sect!”

“Yes!”

“Aso!”

“Yes!”

“Run to Southern Edge right now! Tell those guys to release their Closed Gates and come out! Right now!”

“But the Closed Gate…!”

“Now isn’t the time to be discussing this! Go and knock on the damn gate!”

“Yes!”

“Oh, Ming!”

“Yes!”

“Go to the Hwa-young clan in Xi’an right now! Tell them the situation and unite the many sects in Xi’an! These people are different from the Ten Thousand People clan who invaded us before! Not a single one of them should be setting foot in Xi’an!”

“Understood!”

“You, send a letter to the sects around Xi’an right now! Tell them all to gather here! We need the support of all the sects and clans in Xi’an!”

“Yes!”

“Move! Right now!”

“Yes!”

Hong Dae-Kwang bit down on his lip until it bled.

He wanted to run out and start moving immediately, but he had to contact the nearby sects first. Without Mount Hua and Southern Edge, the sects in Xi’an wouldn’t be able to stop those bastards, so the support of Shaolin and the Beggars Union was essential.

‘Please, please!’

Actually, it was all too late.

The distance from Luoyang to there was just 500 li, a distance that even most non-warriors could cover in half a day. Even if Shaolin moved, they wouldn’t reach Xi’an before them.

That meant they would have to hold them off with their current strength and buy time until Shaolin arrived.

‘Please hurry up!’

Hong Dae-Kwang got up and ran out.

He opened the door and went out, tilting his head up. Mount Hua came into his view, the peak covered by the clouds.

After watching the sight for a while, he bit his lip and quickly turned around again.

A blood-streaked flame was engulfing everything around.

It wasn’t a common sight to see villages burning down, even if the people didn’t care about right or wrong.

The sight of black smoke rising from the red flames into the sky was a scene of hell unfolding on land.

Black smoke, red flames.

And…

The ground soaked with blood that was thicker than the flames.

“Ughh…”

The person lying in the pool of blood convulsed, forcefully raising their trembling head.

“Y… you will receive… divine punishment…”

“Tsk tsk.”

Gal Cheon-rip snickered as he looked at the old man glaring at him with eyes full of resentment.

“We have already received the punishment, old man. That is why we are in such a place.”

“…M-Mount Hua will not…”

Puak!

Gal Cheon-rip’s sword pierced the old man’s body and sank into the ground.

The old man, who was trembling, fell to his death. Gal Cheon-rip, who pulled out the sword, mumbled with a displeased face.

“These people in this town are always talking about Mount Hua. They all say, Mount Hua, Mount Hua.”

The strange thing was that the name they spoke of was Mount Hua and not Southern Edge.

‘Odd.’

No matter how much Mount Hua’s fame had grown, Shaanxi was still a land ruled by Southern Edge. Why did these people say Mount Hua and not Southern Edge, then?

“Well, anything is fine.”

Gal Cheon-rip raised his head and looked at the burning village.

He also clearly saw the Evil Sect’s people standing in front of him, exuding a deep killing intent.

The moment they saw the blood soaking their hands, a helpless smile appeared brightly on Gal Cheon-rip’s lips.

‘It is slowly getting dangerous.’

He slowly licked his lips with his tongue. The deep killing intent everyone was exuding made him shiver.

Their vicious nature, which had been long suppressed, was gradually bursting out.

Just as a drinker who had been held back from alcohol for a long time drank until he became unconscious the next day, these people, who had refrained from killing for a while, had tasted blood, so no one could stop them.

“Big bro.”

“I know. Let’s move.”

Gal Cheon-rip’s gaze turned to the west.

“We clean up a few more villages before we reach Shaanxi.”

By then, a true frenzied army would be formed.

An army that would drench that great city in blood.